Ferdinando Paleologus Tomb

Commanding one of the most breathtaking views on the East Coast of Barbados is the St. John's Parish Church. Along with it's view, perhaps the most fascinating feature of the church which is located in the parish of St. John, is the tomb of Greek expatriate Ferdinando Paleologus. Paleologus was a church warden, a surveyor and owner of Clifton Hall, a nearby cotton plantation.

He was a descendent of the brother of the great Emperor Constantine XI, the last of the Byzantine Imperial family from the 1400s that produced the last Christian emperors of Greece. After the Battle of Naseby in England where his family was driven from the throne of Constantinople by the Turks, he took off to Barbados.

When Paleologus died in the 1670s, he was buried in the grave yard at St John's Parish Church. In 1831, the island of Barbados was struck by a hurricane which destroyed the church. Ferdinando's lead coffin was discovered facing a different position than all the others and his skeletal remains lodged in quicklime. His head was facing West in accordance with Eastern Orthodox traditions.